Post-injury vocational achievement is an important index of successful rehabilitation. This study involved the identification of factors reported to influence (positively or negatively) labour force participation of people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Forty participants were selected from a larger study of 450 based on the most extreme prediction errors from the application of a discriminant function analysis, which aimed to predict vocational achievement (both in and not in the labour force) post-SCI. Participants were interviewed to gain an understanding of their explanations for their labour force status. Factors nominated as most influencing post-injury achievements were family, friends and representatives of pre-injury employers. Implications of these findings for the delivery of rehabilitation services are presented, including the value of having service plans based on a behaviour analysis of the influence of environmental factors. (Contains 8 tables and 2 figures.)